1931 Roadster

1931 Ford A-V8 late 40s style build

Ed's Rod Shop started off with an incomplete and badly built A-V8 which had many problems. It did however feature some very nice original parts and a solid original steel Henry body. We completely rebuilt it incorporating many traditional 1940s tricks to make this one on the finest A-V8s on the road. We took out the boxed repro frame and replaced it with one of Eds Rod Shops special 32 X-frames. The car features a flathead motor with many rare vintage speed parts, a S-10 5 speed transmission with banjo axle converted to open drive. The front end is entirely chromed although built predominently from original parts. The hood sides are hand made and the '32 grill shell was leaned back 1" to give the car a more rakish stance. A 1946 center X-member utilzing the original '46 pedal box was fitted to the A-V8 frame. The pictures below illustrate the build up of this hot rod.

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Here is the body mounted on it's re-built frame from Eds Rod Shop

The Heavy steel center box of the 1946 central crossmember required a shallow tunnel being added to the floor of the car.

Here we can see the A-V8 frame being mocked up. 1932 Rails, Model-A front and rear crossmembers are held securely in place by a cut down 1946 central crossmember. The second picture here clearly shows the plastic dummy flathead V8 engine block we use for mocking up.

Aircraft style covered tubular shocks are mounted at the rear using special brackets

The standard Model-A hood with 1932 style center hinge was too short to fill the gap between body and grill. This was partly because of the '32 wheelbase but also because we had decided to rake the top of the grill about 1/2" back. It was decided to make up new side panels with a distinctive louver pattern.

Testing modifiying and measuring twice before cutting and folding the sheet metal. Here are the new longer side panels installed with new latches.

This illustrates a typical rust repair on the rear panal. The cut-outs for the Pontiac lights were welded shut as was one of the dashoard instrument holes because it had been cut out of line!

Here's the finished dashboard with a new switch panel fabricated underneath it.

This is Ed's famous 1932 X-frame. This frame utilizes a 1942-48 center section. This ensures a torsionally rigid frame without boxing

Here the A-V8 frame is assembled with it's drivetrain. The A-V8 frame features original Model-A front and rear crossmembers

The combination of 1932 rails with a Model-A rear crossmember and spring behind axle configeration lowers the rear of the car substantially

Chromed cherry original 1940 backing plates and chromed Lincoln drums make for an awesome front brake. Note the stainless steel mounting bosses for the front cycle fenders